Microcontact printing is a printing technique that can be used, for example, to generate patterns of functionalizing molecules (that is, molecules that attach to a substrate surface or coated substrate surface via a chemical bond) to form a patterned self-assembled monolayer (SAM) (that is, a single layer of molecules that are attached, for example, by a chemical bond to a surface and that have adopted a preferred orientation with respect to that surface and even with respect to each other).
A basic method for microcontact printing SAMs involves applying an ink containing functionalizing molecules to a relief-patterned elastomeric stamp (for example, a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamp) and then contacting the inked stamp to a substrate surface, usually a metal or metal oxide surface, so that SAMs form in the regions of contact between the stamp and the substrate. Alternatively, the elastomeric stamp can be flat (that is, not containing a relief pattern) and the substrate surface can be relief-patterned.
Micropatterned organic and inorganic materials printed using microcontact printing methods can potentially provide unique electrical, optical, and/or biological properties to substrates such as metallized polymeric films. It has proven difficult, however, to obtain good (that is, complete and even) functionalizing molecule coverage using known microcontact printing methods continuously, repeatedly, and/or at high rates.